LucidTree.com - Awareness resource

The internet can be a place for entertainment, communication and commerce, but the most important role of the web, I think, is education. Never in history has so much valuable information been available to the masses but it's not always obvious where to find it.

For a long time I intended to build a website that aggregated some of this valuable information and presented it in a clear format. This has finally materialized in the shape of a free online movie library called LucidTree.com. It is currently only a seedling but the aim is to grow it into a hub of relevant information for those of us seeking a better understanding of ourselves, this planet and beyond.

Check out LucidTree.com and share it with friends and family. Contribute by sending suggestions/feedback using the contact form on the website.


Real revolution starts with learning...

Deep thought of the day

Courtesy of TED.com

 

Introverts, you are OK.

An introvert being erm... introverted!

After the TED talk I posted a few days ago, this is the second article I find this week about introverts. This time The Guardian discovers that being quiet, shy and a "what if" thinker is not all bad.

We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal – the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight.

Don't say!

Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness – is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.

QUICK! Pass one of those extroversion pills before it's too late!

Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones.

"And then he was like 'Uh...' and I was like 'Duh!'"

Without introverts, the world would be devoid of Newton's theory of gravity, Einstein's theory of relativity, WB Yeats's The Second Coming, Chopin's nocturnes, Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Peter Pan, Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, the films of Steven Spielberg, Google (co-founded by introvert Larry Page) and Harry Potter.

"Wassup with this list?! Steven makes cool movies, yeah? But the others didn't go to gigs not even nearly often enough. Specially that Chopin dude!"

"The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Neither E=mc² nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal."

"Booooriiing!!!"

A few things introverts are not: the word introvert is not a synonym for hermit or misanthrope. Introverts can be these things, but most are perfectly friendly.

Oh really?! Disturb my blog-ing time and you'll see.


In conclusion, we can all breathe a breath of relief - it's ok to be introverted as introverts are not sick people after all. Phew! I'll cancel my operation then.

Read the full article: Why the world needs introverts

Are you an introvert, extrovert or do you swing both ways? Do the Quiz: are you an introvert?

Chris Hedges: "I don't believe in atheists"

Interesting argument put forward in this speech. Journalist and author, Chris Hedges, points out the dogmatic similarities between religious extremism and new atheism. The externalization of "evil" beyond the self; simplistic, binary, us versus them, white and black, point of view of the world; and a sense of superiority, are some of the characteristics of both these philosophies, which pave the way to dangerous extremism that knows no empathy.

Hedges comes across as very lucid and well researched intellectual with always extremely powerful arguments backed by facts. I guess we're all extreme in one way or another ; )

"I certainly understand that there is nothing intrinsically moral about being a believer or a nonbeliever, that many people of great moral probity and courage define themselves outside of religious structures, do not engage in religious ritual or use religious language, in the same way that many people who advocate intolerance, bigotry and even violence cloak themselves in the garb of religion and oftentimes have prominent positions within religious institutions."

~ Chris Hedges interview to Salon.com

PS: Chris has also written a book entitled I don't believe in atheists.

Ride to the edge of the Universe

Thought I had already posted this video about a year ago but can't find it in the archive so here it is; a three dimensional animation of the currently mapped Universe up to the cosmic horizon. Each object is represented to the correct scale and location according to scientific research... including the size of your ego after watching this. : )


Size of the Universe from Paul Eyler on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's day from Earth

Time lapse footage of the planet that enables your existence. Shot from the International Space Station in 2011 at an altitude of 350km. Isn't she awe-inspiring?

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Happy New Orbit

Earth's orbit around the sun

Scientists under attack

Scientists Under Attack is an investigation into the scientists researching the health impacts of Genetically Modified Food. This film is recommended for all those who love nature, and for everyone who eats. View the trailer here and buy the film here.

"When scientist Arpad Pusztai reported that genetically modified (GM) foods caused serious health problems in rats, he was a hero at his prestigious UK institute — for two days. But after two phone calls (apparently) from the Prime Minister’s office, he was fired, gagged, and mercilessly attacked.

When UC Berkely professor Ignacio Chapela discovered GM corn contamination in Mexico, he too faced a firestorm of distortion and denial that left him struggling to salvage his career. Find out how the biotech industry “engineers” the truth and what they are trying to hide from you."

How nutrition affects behavior

In this short presentation (48mins), doctor Russell Blaylock explains how nutrition affects behaviour. How a deficient diet relates to higher crime as studies show a correlation between violent criminals and nutritional deficiencies. How sugar intake leads to a higher incidence of Alzheimer's disease. How aspartame and mono-sodium-glutamate (MSG) contribute to hypoglycaemia and cause other health problems. How vitamin deficiencies and unsuspecting food allergies effect how the brain functions. How vaccines provoke immune reactions that go on for years causing brain dysfunction and creating certain mental related diseases. The talk concludes with a list of environmental toxins to avoid, as well as a shocking fact regarding pesticides.

Documentário "A vida fora de controlo"

"A engenharia genética, de certa forma, é um erro com cerca de 400 anos. Um erro que começou com a revolução Cartesiana e com a idea de que vida é uma máquina.

Decartes disse, basicamente, que os animais são máquinas. Os Cartesianos faziam vivissecções de gates e cães, e quando ouviam os berros, diziam "Ah! Isto é como as engrenagens de uma máquina a mexer. É de onde vem o barulho!" Era uma visão totalmente mecanicista.

Se analizarmos os últimos 400 anos, verificamos que tem havido, por parte da comunidade ciêntifica, não de toda, uma continuidade deste mito mecanicista muito perigoso. Portanto, agora veêm o mundo todo como simples máquinas e os genes como software. É por isso que acreditam na engenharia genética. Esles estão a "engenhar" vida como se estivessem a "engenhar" máquinas. É eficiência reducionista, justamente o mesmo princípio a que tentam reduzir a vida. Este é o erro fundamental da engenharia genética." (0:53:55)

Zeitgeist III: Moving Forward

The original Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007) is said to be the most watched online documentary ever. With over an estimated 200 million views, it joins the dots between religion, the 9/11 "attacks" and the economic system in a way unexpected to many and still unacceptable by some. This controversial documentary inspired The Zeitgeist Movement, a grass-roots social movement of activists. 

In 2008 Peter Joseph released the sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum, which focuses in more depth on the intrinsic flaws of the monetary system and introduces The Venus Project, the birth child of Jaques Fresco, an engineer and self-educated inventor in many fields. At the end, The Zeitgeist Movement is formally introduced.

Today is an epic day for many as Peter Joseph steps up the tempo again. The third movie of the controversial Zeitgeist series has just released. Zeitgeist III: Moving Forward can be download or watched online for free. The full 2 hours and 41 minutes documentary film is available below. Are you ready?

Report concludes GM food "not a solution" to feed the world

A recent Guardian article analyses the ever more recognised truism that the "Global food system must be transformed 'on industrial revolution scale'". With the bio-tech multinationals at one side pushing for the opportunity to grab full control of the profitable global food market (under the banner of altruism) and at the other side the environmentalists concerned with the sustainability of current agricultural methods, which if expanded could cause more harm than good. The article ends as follows:

The Foresight report is significantly different in its conclusions to that of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development report – approved by the UK government and 57 others in 2008. This found that small-scale, environmentally friendly and organic production methods, based on local knowledge and protected from globalised markets, were the way forward to avert hunger in the next 40 years and that GM food was not a solution.

The elephant in the room

We spend so much of our lives busy with the so many duties, things and people that seem to require our constant full-time attention, always with a sense of such extreme importance and urgency, that often we loose perspective of the true dimension (or context) in which we exist.

In fact, many spend their whole lifetime without stopping for a second to contemplate the wider Universal context. It may appear irrelevant to our daily lives but to ignore its existence is to ignore the elephant in the room... or rather the forest surrounding the grain of pollen.

The following animation takes us on a ride through the widest (known) context of all the drama and excitement being played out on the crust of (what Carl Sagan once called) "a fraction of a dot". Fasten your seatbelts!



Passamos tanta parte das nossas vidas ocupados com tantas preocupações e ocupações que parecem exigir a nossa atenção constante, sempre com a sensação de extrema importância e urgência tais, que muitas vezes perdemos de vista a verdadeira dimensão (ou contexto) em que existimos.

O facto é que, muitos passam a vida inteira sem pararem um segundo para contemplarem este contexto, o contexto Universal. Pode parecer irrelevante para a nossa vida diária, mas ignorar a sua existência é ignorar o elefante na sala... ou melhor, a floresta que rodea o grão de pólen.

A animação seguinte leva-nos num passeio através do contexto mais amplo (descoberto) em que todo o drama e emoção se está a passar, na crosta (do que Carl Sagan uma vez chamou) "uma fracção de um ponto ". Apertem os cintos!

TED: Ken Robinson's humourous talks on education

TED talks have become famous all over the world. The following videos have been around the internet quite a bit but it's not everyday we come across something funny and worth hearing so here it is one of my favourite speakers, Ken Robinson. Enjoy the following two talks, the first from 2006 and the second from 2010, as Ken discusses and proposes changes to the education system.

("Clicka" em View Subtitles para selecionar legendas em Português.)

O estado da agricultura biológica em Portugal

O seguinte programa da Biosfera é dedicado á agricultura biológica, especificamente em Portugal. Descobre o porquê e a sua importância para além das vantagens para a saúde humana. Este é provávelmente, até ao momento, o relatório Português mais aprofundado acerca deste tema.

Documentário "O Mundo Segundo a Monsanto"

Capa do DVD

A Monsanto foi fundada nos Estados Unidos em 1901 como uma empresa de productos químicos. Começou na altura a produzir productos altamente carcinogénicos, como os PCBs que estão relacionados com proplemas reprodutivos e do sistema imunitário.

Durante a segunda gerra mundial a Monsanto participou significativamente no projecto Manhattan para desenvolver a bomba atómica. Depois da guerra a Monsanto foi pioneira no desenvolvimento de químicos para a agricultura, tal como o herbicida "Agente Orange" que foi usado no Vietnam e que desde o fim da guerra é responsável por cerca de meio milhão de crianças nascerem deformadas.

A história mórbida da Monsanto não acaba aqui mas é demasiado extensiva para reproduzir neste blog. O que é importante realçar é que é uma empresa que tem sido culpada vezes sem conta de publicidade enganosa, poluição ambiental extrema e de causar sufrimento a milhões pelo mundo fora, recusando sempre qualquer tipo de responsabilidade.

Hoje, a Monsanto quer tomar controlo da comida. Tornou-se na maior multinacional de biotechnologia e de sementes patenteadas do mundo e de momento produz cerca de 90% de todas as sementes genéticamente modificadas. Ainda é também a maior produtora de herbicída, chamado "Roundup". Um outro producto da Monsanto são as hormonas sintéticas que são injectadas nas vacas para produzirem mais leite.

O documentário "O Mundo Segundo a Monsanto" (abaixo) explora as profundezas da corrupção das pessoas que gerem esta empresa, que páram a nada para fazerem mais lucro.  Com uma história e atitude destas como podemos confiar-lhes a produção da nossa comida que eles tanto querem?

Documentário "Alimentos S.A."

O documentário Alimentos S.A. (Food Inc.), legendado em Português, é mais um numa série de filmes que levantam o véu para a realidade da produção de comida. Este explora o sistema capitalista de agricultura em que o único incentivo é fazer mais lucro a qualquer custo, inclusive o da saúde, ambiente, direitos dos animais e social. Enquanto que o marketing agrícula continua a vender a idea da quintinha familiar e pacata que acabou há decadas.

O filme sugere que votemos com o nosso garfo, comprando comida local e/ou biológica sempre que possível, tornando cada refeição num acto verdadeiramente revolucionário.

Documentário "O Futuro da Alimentação"

O Futuro da Alimentação ou "The Future of Food" (legendado em Português) explora um pouco a história da evolução da agricultura no ultimo século, expõem o sistema de agricultura industrial currente e os seus problemas ambientais (incluíndo o da saúde humana), sociais e económicos. Explica também como o processo da modificação genética funciona na criaçāo de organismos transgénicos e os riscos que os acompanham. Conclui com uma breve explicação da importância do movimento de agricultura biológica. Um verdadeiro "abre-olhos".



Estão disponíveis mais filmes acerca deste assunto na Videoteca extensiva da Plataforma Trangénicos Fora.

BBC tax payers sponsor biotech propaganda

A while back I wrote "The invisible noose", a short post based on a compilation of studies, articles and documentaries warning about the risks of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and the industry driving (i.e. profiting from) them.

Today, the BBC News reported on "The eco-friendly pigs genetically modified for food". Those that have cared enough to research GMOs will gasp at the disturbing title as they see the barefaced lie turned into free marketing for the biotech giants. This industry has hijacked the currently fashionable "eco-friendly" label to propagandise a dangerous technology to exploit a hyped up and misinformed global warming population. We must admit, it's not a stupid way to disguise its real agenda — to control the global food supply and to own all life itself through patents — but a very deceiving one.

Then the article goes on to explain how GMOs are "a solution to feeding a hungry planet" and will help on "cutting down pollution" while there's proof that GMOs cause more pollution, are a human health hazard while there are plenty of common sense arguments why GE food will NOT feed the world.

The BBC bias towards the biotech industry becomes even more transparent, as the reporter goes through the trouble of interviewing two pro-GMO scientists (one of which used to be anti-GMO) and only one concerned grocery store clerk woman whom does not get the chance to explain WHY she is concerned. This is the sort of propaganda that the UK TV license tax payer is not only funding but already literally swallowing.

If you care about your health and the environment and do want to understand the concerns of that wise woman regarding GMOs, watch the following documentaries: (below) The Future of Food and The World According to Monsanto.

Then cancel your TV license and dump the TV.

Documentário "O Alimento é Importante"

Menu de capítulos

O documentário "Food Matters" (O Alimento é Importante) está agora disponível (em seis partes) no YouTube com legendagem em Português. Vê agora e descobre o que está de errado com o presente sistema de saúde, porque é que uma população saudável não dá lucro e o poder que uma nutrição equilibrada tem na cura de todas as doenças. Uma vez que "nós somos aquilo que comemos" "a população precisa é de educação e não medicação". Bom apetite!

(Se as legendas não estiverem ligadas, "clicka" no botão do lado direito com a seta e depois seleciona "CC".)

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